Trichotillomania Support in New Mexico

Find a therapist in New Mexico who understands trichotillomania. Whether you pull your own hair or you’re supporting a child or someone you love, search by city or town, from Albuquerque to Las Cruces, for someone near you, or choose Online to see who works with people anywhere in New Mexico.

Find a therapist for trichotillomania in New Mexico

New Mexico is the fifth-largest state by area, but only about 2.1 million people live here, and around a third of them live in rural counties. Outside Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces, the nearest person who understands hair pulling may be hours away. Finding them is the hard part, and it’s the reason this directory exists.

The directory includes therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychotherapists, CBT therapists, occupational therapists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, and BFRB coaches. Every listing explains how that person works, whether they see people in person, online or both, what they charge, and has a private contact form. If you live in the Four Corners, the Bootheel or out on the eastern plains, you can see who works online across New Mexico. New people join regularly.

Open the full directory →

Frequently Asked Questions about Trichotillomania in New Mexico

Find a Therapist

How do I find a trichotillomania therapist near me in New Mexico?›

Search the directory by your city or town, or choose Online to see people who work with clients anywhere in New Mexico. Most in-person options are in greater Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces. Every listing shows how the person works, what they charge, and has a private contact form.

Can I have sessions online from anywhere in New Mexico?›

Yes. Anyone licensed in New Mexico can see you online wherever you live in the state. New Mexico hasn’t joined the agreements that let many out-of-state psychologists and counselors work here, but hypnotherapists, EFT practitioners and coaches can usually work with people anywhere.

How much does trichotillomania therapy cost in New Mexico?›

Private sessions in New Mexico usually cost $90–$180, with around $120–$130 typical. Santa Fe often runs a little higher. Every listing shows its own prices, and many people offer a free first call.

What kinds of help are there for hair pulling in New Mexico?›

New Mexicans who pull work with therapists, counselors, psychologists, CBT therapists, occupational therapists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, and BFRB coaches. Different people find different things helpful. What everyone listed here shares is that they understand hair pulling.

Do I need a doctor’s note or a diagnosis to get help in New Mexico?›

No. You can contact anyone listed in the directory directly, without a doctor’s note and without a diagnosis. Just say you pull your hair and want someone who understands trichotillomania.

My child pulls their hair. What do I do first?›

Stay steady and don’t tell them off; pressure and punishment reliably make pulling worse. Read The Parent’s Guide to Trichotillomania to understand what your child is going through, then look for someone whose listing says they work with children and teens.

Are there trichotillomania support groups in New Mexico?›

We haven’t found an in-person hair pulling group in New Mexico right now. Free online BFRB groups through the International OCD Foundation are open to New Mexicans, and NAMI affiliates run general peer groups in person and online. If you run a group, tell us and we’ll list it for free.

How common is hair pulling in New Mexico?›

Trichotillomania affects about 1 in 50 people, which means tens of thousands of New Mexicans. It usually starts around ages 10–13 but can begin at any age. Most people who pull have never knowingly met another person who does. Read our complete guide to trichotillomania.

How to get in touch with a therapist

You can contact anyone listed here directly, today. You don’t need a doctor’s note or a diagnosis. Use the private contact form on their listing, and say what it is: “I pull my hair. I’m looking for someone who understands trichotillomania.”

Most practitioners in New Mexico work in greater Albuquerque, including Rio Rancho, and in Santa Fe and Las Cruces. Farmington and Roswell have far fewer, and many small towns have none. On the Navajo Nation, in the Gila country or on the eastern plains, a weekly trip to an office can take most of a day. That’s why many New Mexicans work with someone online from home.

New Mexico hasn’t joined the agreements that let many psychologists and counselors from other states work online across state lines. For now, a licensed clinician usually needs a New Mexico license to see you. Hypnotherapists, EFT practitioners and coaches aren’t bound by these state licensing rules, and many already work with people anywhere.

Turquoise Care (New Mexico’s Medicaid program) or insurance through work can also connect you with someone. That route exists, but it often takes longer and you usually can’t choose a person who understands hair pulling.

How to choose who to work with

People who pull find help from many directions: therapists, counselors, psychologists, hypnotherapists, EFT and NLP practitioners, occupational therapists and coaches. Different people find different things helpful.

If you’d like to check a licensed clinician, use the free License Lookup from the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. It covers psychologists, licensed by the Board of Psychologist Examiners. It also covers counselors and marriage and family therapists, licensed by the Counseling and Therapy Practice Board. “Psychologist” is a protected title in New Mexico. Many other kinds of help, like hypnotherapy, EFT, NLP and coaching, aren’t licensed by the state and belong to their own associations instead.

Everyone on this site has one thing in common: they’ve told us they understand hair pulling. On a first call, you can ask:

Have you helped people who pull their hair before?
How do you work? What happens in the first few sessions?
What if I feel it isn’t right for me?

Charities and groups in New Mexico

New Mexico has no charity just for hair pulling or skin picking, and no local OCD foundation affiliate. It does have statewide peer support and a free support line that anyone in the state can call.

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

The main US home for BFRB support (BFRB stands for body-focused repetitive behavior, the group that includes hair pulling and skin picking). It runs online events and keeps a directory of support groups, including online groups for people who pull.

NAMI New Mexico

The state organization of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, with local affiliates in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and San Juan County. Its free peer groups and family classes aren’t about hair pulling, but they’re open to anyone living with a mental health condition and the people close to them.

New Mexico Crisis and Access Line

Free, confidential support 24 hours a day from anywhere in New Mexico. Call 1-855-662-7474 (1-855-NMCRISIS). For times when you want to talk but aren’t in crisis, its Peer-to-Peer Warmline is answered by people with their own lived experience: call 1-855-466-7100.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Call or text 988 at any time if things feel like too much.

Support groups in New Mexico

We haven’t found an in-person group just for hair pulling anywhere in New Mexico right now. Most people who want to meet others who pull do it online, and there are good options:

IOCDF online BFRB groups: free, peer-led video groups for adults who pull or pick, listed in the IOCDF support group directory. They run on US time zones, so Mountain Time evenings are easy to find.
New Mexico OCD Support Group, Albuquerque: a free group for children and teens with OCD and their parents, listed with the IOCDF. It’s for OCD rather than hair pulling, so ask before you go whether it’s a good fit.
NAMI Connection groups: free peer-led groups for adults with any mental health condition, run in person and online by NAMI affiliates in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Farmington.

For parents: The Parent’s Guide to Trichotillomania helps you understand what your child is going through.

Do you run a New Mexico group? Tell us and we’ll list it for free.

The sensory side of pulling

For many people, pulling starts with a feeling rather than a thought. A hair feels coarse, wiry or out of place. One eyebrow hair seems a different shape from the rest. The urge is to find that one hair and get it out.

What comes next is often just as physical. Some people roll the hair between their fingers, run it across their lips or look closely at the root. Many feel a brief moment of relief, or a sense that things are “right” again, once it’s out. None of this seems strange to someone who pulls, but it can be very hard to explain to anyone else.

The senses also shape when pulling happens. An itchy scalp, bright bathroom lighting or a magnifying mirror can all make certain hairs easier to notice. Many people pull more when their hands are free and their mind is elsewhere: reading, studying, driving or lying awake at night.

Knowing that pulling has a sensory side can take away some of the shame. It isn’t vanity, and it isn’t a lack of willpower. Trichotillomania is a body-focused repetitive behavior, recognized in the DSM-5 and ICD-10 (F63.3). It is not a bad habit, not attention-seeking and not self-harm.

About this page

Sources: New Mexico Legislature (2026 session, HB 32 and HB 33); PSYPACT and Counseling Compact Commission member lists; New Mexico In Depth and the New Mexico Legislature’s healthcare workforce reports; New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, including the Board of Psychologist Examiners and the Counseling and Therapy Practice Board; International OCD Foundation (including its support group directory); NAMI New Mexico; New Mexico Crisis and Access Line; published Albuquerque and New Mexico therapy cost data (2026); U.S. Census Bureau.

Things change. We check this page often, but always check prices and qualifications with the person you contact. This page is information, not medical advice.

Are you a New Mexico therapist or practitioner who works with trichotillomania?

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About New Mexico

New Mexico is a high, dry state where the southern Rocky Mountains meet the Chihuahuan Desert, and the Rio Grande runs through it from north to south. Its capital, Santa Fe, was founded around 1610 and is the oldest state capital in the United States. Albuquerque, the largest city, sits at the foot of the Sandia Mountains and hosts a hot-air balloon fiesta every October.

Las Cruces, the second-largest city, lies in the Mesilla Valley below the Organ Mountains and is home to New Mexico State University. Taos is an art town beneath the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Farmington sits in the Four Corners, and Roswell in the Pecos Valley to the southeast. In the southwest, the Gila Wilderness became the first area in the country set aside as wilderness, in 1924. New Mexico is also home to 23 Native American tribes, nations and pueblos.

Attractions in New Mexico

From white gypsum dunes to thousand-year-old adobe homes and one of the world’s great cave systems, New Mexico’s most famous sights are spread across the whole state.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, near Carlsbad

Carlsbad Cavern was first protected as a national monument in 1923 and became a national park in 1930. The park now protects more than 119 known caves beneath the Guadalupe Mountains, and it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. On summer evenings, Brazilian free-tailed bats pour out of the cave’s natural entrance to feed.

White Sands National Park, near Alamogordo

Wave-like dunes of white gypsum cover 275 square miles of the Tularosa Basin, the largest gypsum dunefield in the world. Gypsum rarely forms sand because it dissolves in water, but this basin has no outlet to the sea, so the mineral stays trapped. First protected in 1933, White Sands became a national park in December 2019.

Taos Pueblo, Taos

The multistory adobe homes of Taos Pueblo, just northeast of town, have been lived in for over 1,000 years. Its North and South Houses rise to five stories below the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is the only living Native American community that is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, northwest New Mexico

Between about 850 and 1150 CE, Chaco Canyon was a major center of Ancestral Puebloan life. Its people built large multistory “great houses” linked by roads across the region. The largest, Pueblo Bonito, had hundreds of rooms. The park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is known for its very dark night skies.

Sandia Peak Tramway, Albuquerque

Opened on May 7, 1966, this aerial tram climbs 2.7 miles from the edge of Albuquerque to 10,378 feet, near the top of the Sandia Mountains. Swiss engineers from Bell Engineering built it. It was the longest aerial tramway in the world until 2010 and is still the longest in the Americas.